Collapsed during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management-Shillong (IIM-S) - July 27th 2015

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the 'missile man' who came to be known as 'People's President' died on Monday after he collapsed during a lecture at the IIM in Shillong on Monday evening. He was 83.

Kalam, who reached Shillong via Guwahati in the morning, Collapsed during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management-Shillong (IIM-S) at around 6:30 pm and was rushed to the Bethany Hospital there.

Doctors at the hospital said he was brought dead around 7pm. “He had no pulse when he was admitted to the hospital. We can attribute his death to cardiac arrest,” a doctor said.

The hospital authorities, however, refrained from confirming the death until Meghalaya governor V Shanmughanathan and chief secretary PBO Warjri visited the hospital around 8pm.

“The body of the former president will be flown to New Delhi via Guwahati Tuesday morning,” Warjri said.

IIM-S officials said Kalam, who had tweeted in the morning about the function, showed no signs of illness after he reached the Meghalaya capital. “We had a packed house for the lecture on Liveable Planet Earth,” an official said.

From 'Missile Man' to 'People's President'
Kalam served as president for five years from 2002, enjoying the support of both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.

Kalam was closely involved in the country's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts, earning him the sobriquet 'India's Missile Man'. He worked as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) before he became president.

He also played a pivotal technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, shortly after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came to power.

After his term, he returned to a life of education, writing, and public service. He received several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.

The government is set to announce a national mourning of seven days.
"As president of India, Dr. Kalam was immensely popular and greatly admired. His warmth, humility and simple ways endeared him to one and all. He had a special love for children and sought to constantly inspire the youth of our country through motivational speeches and personal interaction," President Pranab Mukherjee said.

A vegetarian bachelor, Kalam was quoted as saying that like most of the technology he spearheaded, he himself was "Made in India", having never been trained abroad.

Kalam succeeded K R Narayanan and served a full five-year term from 2002 until 2007 after he won the presidential elections which was a highly one-sided contest with Lakshmi Sahgal, a revolutionary of the Indian Independence movement, as his rival. He secured the backing of all political parties.

A role model for students and young people Kalam was always happy to be among them and educational institutions. He breathed his last in the premises of an educational institution.

Many superstars frequently tilted that it's tough to have a stable private life when you work in the movie professional, and when your life is continually being talked about in the media. Particularly, when you are a Bollywood superstar and you are at a wedding, life becomes a little bit more problematic. That is why superstar divorces have become common these days. But having your personal life and divorce become a people's breakfast table chat isn't the only price these celebs have to pay. They accurately have to pay a huge amount as far as celebrity divorces go. Check out these 7 most expensive divorces of B-Town which will shock you!

1. Hrithik Roshan and Sussane Khan

People were really left shocked when the duo announced their separation last year, after 14 years of being married. There were lots of speculation, with accusations on both of them cheating on each other. But till date, the exact reason of separation isn't clear. Nevertheless, theirs has got to be one of the most expensive divorces in Bollywood. Sussane had demanded a whopping Rs 400 crore in alimony and Hrithik ended up paying Rs. 380 to her in a settlement!

2. Karisma Kapoor and Sunjay Kapur

Theirs has been one jinxed marriage since the very beginning. They have always been on an on-off mode constantly as far as their relationship is concerned, and the couple finally filed for a divorce last year. If reports are to be believed, their divorce is about to get finalised by June this year, and Karisma has apparently demanded Rs. 7 crore as alimony.

3. Sanjay Dutt and Rhea Pillai

Even though Rhea was Sanjay's second, the two were much in love before Rhea went ahead and left him for tennis player Leander Paes. Reportedly, Sanjay was footing in her shopping and mobile phone bills till the time the official divorce was finalised, even though during that time she had a baby with Leander Paes! Not only that, Sanjay also ended up paying Rs 8 crore as alimony and an expensive car to Rhea.

4. Rhea Pillai and Leander Paes

Well, yeah! They also ended up getting divorced, funny right! In fact, the two of them had a much ugly divorce, with both of them making accusations at each other in front of the media. Paes even accused Pillai of cheating on him with a younger cricketer. Yet, Pillai demanded Rs. 4 lakh from him as monthly maintenance, Rs 3 lakh for herself and Rs. 90,000 for their daughter who studies in one of the most expensive schools in Mumbai.

5. Aditya Chopra and Payal Khanna

While most us know that Rani Mukerji and Aditya Chopra are happily married now, not many know of his first wife Payal Khanna. Thrate were actually childhood sweethearts, but as fate would have it, they are separated now. It was reported that it took a lot of time for the couple to get the official divorce because Payal apparently demanded a huge sum of alimony from Aditya. And even though there were much speculations, their divorce details were kept under wraps. Yet, the alimony amount is believed to be so huge that it's considered to be one of the most expensive divorces in the history of Bollywood.

6. Prabhudeva and Ramlath

Not many know, but the multitalented actor-dancer-director, Prabhudeva is also a divorcee. He divorced his wife Ramlath in 2011, but not without paying a hefty amount as alimony. She not only received property worth of Rs. 20-25 crores, which included villas, but also got Rs. 10 lakh as one time alimony and two expensive cars!

7. Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh

Here's yet another of the most expensive Bollywood celeb divorces- Saif and Amrita. The two had a fairytale wedding, when Saif decided to marry a much elder Amrita despite his family's opposition, and everyone else's shock. Sadly, the couple parted ways after 13 years of being married. And even though the exact amount of Amrita's alimony has never been disclosed, it's said that apparently Saif had to pay half his fortune to Amrita as alimony and also paid for child support.

Throughout history, humans have always been prone to accidents. Some, such as the exotic car crashes seen on this page, can be very expensive. But that's trivial compared to the truly expensive accidents. An accident is defined as "an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss". Our aim is to list the top 10 most expensive accidents in the history of the world as measured in dollars. This includes property damage and expenses incurred related to the accident such as cleanup and industry losses. Many of these accidents involve casualties which obviously cannot be measured in dollar terms. Each life lost is priceless and is not factored into the equation. Deliberate actions such as war or terrorism and natural disasters do not qualify as accidents and therefore are not included in this list.

10. TitanicCost: $150 Million
The sinking of the Titanic is possibly the most famous accident in the world. But it barely makes our list of top 10 most expensive. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage and was considered to be the most luxurious ocean liner ever built. Over 1,500 people lost their lives when the ship ran into an iceberg and sunk in frigid waters. The ship cost $7 million to build ($150 million in today's dollars).

9. Tanker Truck vs BridgeCost: $358 Million
On August 26, 2004, a car collided with a tanker truck containing 32,000 liters of fuel on the Wiehltal Bridge in Germany. The tanker crashed through the guardrail and fell 90 feet off the A4 Autobahn resulting in a huge explosion and fire which destroyed the load-bearing ability of the bridge. Temporary repairs cost $40 million and the cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $318 Million.

8. MetroLink CrashCost: $500 Million
On September 12, 2008, in what was one of the worst train crashes in California history, 25 people were killed when a Metrolink commuter train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles. It is thought that the Metrolink train may have run through a red signal while the conductor was busy text messaging. Wrongful death lawsuits are expected to cause $500 million in losses for Metrolink.

7. B-2 Bomber CrashCost: $1.4 Billion
Here we have our first billion dollar accident (and we're only #7 on the list). This B-2 stealth bomber crashed shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on February 23, 2008. Investigators blamed distorted data in the flight control computers caused by moisture in the system. This resulted in the aircraft making a sudden nose-up move which made the B-2 stall and crash. This was 1 of only 21 ever built and was the most expensive aviation accident in history. Both pilots were able to eject to safety.

The crash was captured on video. It shows one B-2 Bomber successfully taking off followed by the B-2 Bomber which crashes. The crash starts at 2:00

6. Exxon ValdezCost: $2.5 Billion
The Exxon Valdez oil spill was not a large one in relation to the world's biggest oil spills, but it was a costly one due to the remote location of Prince William Sound (accessible only by helicopter and boat). On March 24, 1989, 10.8 million gallons of oil was spilled when the ship's master, Joseph Hazelwood, left the controls and the ship crashed into a Reef. The cleanup cost Exxon $2.5 billion.

5. Piper Alpha Oil RigCost: $3.4 Billion
The world's worst off-shore oil disaster. At one time, it was the world's single largest oil producer, spewing out 317,000 barrels of oil per day.. On July 6, 1988, as part of routine maintenance, technicians removed and checked safety valves which were essential in preventing dangerous build-up of liquid gas. There were 100 identical safety valves which were checked. Unfortunately, the technicians made a mistake and forgot to replace one of them. At 10 PM that same night, a technician pressed a start button for the liquid gas pumps and the world's most expensive oil rig accident was set in motion.
Within 2 hours, the 300 foot platform was engulfed in flames. It eventually collapsed, killing 167 workers and resulting in $3.4 Billion in damages.

4. Challenger ExplosionCost: $5.5 Billion
The Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after takeoff due on January 28, 1986 due to a faulty O-ring. It failed to seal one of the joints, allowing pressurized gas to reach the outside. This in turn caused the external tank to dump its payload of liquid hydrogen causing a massive explosion. The cost of replacing the Space Shuttle was $2 billion in 1986 ($4.5 billion in today's dollars). The cost of investigation, problem correction, and replacement of lost equipment cost $450 million from 1986-1987 ($1 Billion in today's dollars).

3. Prestige Oil SpillCost: $12 Billion
On November 13, 2002, the Prestige oil tanker was carrying 77,000 tons of heavy fuel oil when one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off Galicia, Spain. Fearing that the ship would sink, the captain called for help from Spanish rescue workers, expecting them to take the ship into harbour. However, pressure from local authorities forced the captain to steer the ship away from the coast. The captain tried to get help from the French and Portuguese authorities, but they too ordered the ship away from their shores. The storm eventually took its toll on the ship resulting in the tanker splitting in half and releasing 20 million gallons oil into the sea. According to a report by the Pontevedra Economist Board, the total cleanup cost $12 billion.

2. Space Shuttle ColumbiaCost: $13 Billion
The Space Shuttle Columbia was the first space worthy shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. It was destroyed during re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003 after a hole was punctured in one of the wings during launch 16 days earlier. The original cost of the shuttle was $2 Billion in 1978. That comes out to $6.3 Billion in today's dollars. $500 million was spent on the investigation, making it the costliest aircraft accident investigation in history. The search and recovery of debris cost $300 million.

In the end, the total cost of the accident (not including replacement of the shuttle) came out to $13 Billion according to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

1. Chernobyl
Cost: $200 Billion

On April 26, 1986, the world witnessed the costliest accident in history. The Chernobyl disaster has been called the biggest socio-economic catastrophe in peacetime history. 50% of the area of Ukraine is in some way contaminated. Over 200,000 people had to be evacuated and resettled while 1.7 million people were directly affected by the disaster. The death toll attributed to Chernobyl, including people who died from cancer years later, is estimated at 125,000. The total costs including cleanup, resettlement, and compensation to victims has been estimated to be roughly $200 Billion. The cost of a new steel shelter for the Chernobyl nuclear plant will cost $2 billion alone. The accident was officially attributed to power plant operators who violated plant procedures and were ignorant of the safety requirements needed.

Operating since January 2010, Maharajas’ Express is the newest feather in the grand cap of luxury trains in India. This pan Indian train promises to take guests on a roller coaster ride across the most prominent destinations of the country. Taj Mahal, the Khajuraho temples, wildlife environs of Ranthambore, and the holy bathing Ghats of Varanasi – Maharajas’ Express indeed presents a unique way of exploring the best of India.

With the introduction of Maharajas' Express, a new age of the luxury train traveling has dawned in India. Maharajas’ Express, which is set forth as India’s answer to the Orient Express of West, offers three fascinating journeys offering a window to different facets of India in sheer opulence.

Designed to recreate the art of elegant traveling which was the exclusive provine of erstwhile Maharajas of India, Maharajas Express is characterized by seamless blend of the classical elegance and contemporary sophistication brought about by quaint interiors, elegant furnishings, use of technology and state of the art amenities provided on board, not to mention a 'maharaja treatment' meted out and ensured throughout the journey by hospitable staff.

The train also has an observation lounge called the Rajah Club with a private bar. Besides these cars this luxury train in India also has two elegantly appointed dining cars that offer an array of sumptuous cuisine to the guests. The Bar of the train serves an eclectic mix of wines from across the world in a serene and relaxing ambience.

A high-end boutique in the train houses some perfect and intimate memorabilia to cherish this royal sojourn for a life time. For wellness and rejuvenation spa facilities combining the ancient wisdom of traditional Indian healing techniques of Ayurveda and Vedanta is also available on board. Maharaja Express come equipped the world class facilities including the large LCD TVs, in house direct dial phone, internet and live television. All the cabins have their individual temperature controls and in suite bathroom as well.

The train offers a window to the royal, the classical and the princely India, covered in its three distinct itineraries, each traversing a different aspect and illuminating the rich heritage of India. Each itinerary promises an unforgettable journey though the choicest of places in India.